Preconcentration by Coprecipitation of Copper and Nickel with Mo(VI)/Triazole Derivative System and Their Determinations by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry in Food and Water Samples

A new separation and preconcentration technique based on coprecipitation of Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions by the aid of Mo(VI)/di‐tert‐butyl{methylenebis5‐(chlorobenzyl)‐4H‐1,2,4‐triazol‐3,4‐diyl]}biscarbamate (BUMECTAC) precipitate has been established. The Mo(VI)/BUMECTAC precipitate was dissolved by concentrated HNO₃ and the solution was completed to 5.0 mL with distilled/deionized water. The levels of the analyte ions were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometer. The effects of experimental conditions like HNO₃ concentration, amount of BUMECTAC and Mo(VI), sample volume, etc. and also the influences of some foreign ions were investigated in detail on the quantitative recoveries of analyte ions. The preconcentration factors were found to be 40 for Cu(II) and 100 for Ni(II) ions. The detection limits for Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions based on 3σ (N:10) were 0.43 and 0.70 µg L^?1, respectively. The relative standard deviations were found to be lower than 4.0% for both analyte ions. The accuracy of the method was checked by spiked/recovery tests and the analysis of two certified reference materials (Environment Canada TM‐25.3 and CRM‐SA‐C Sandy Soil C). The procedure was successfully applied to sea water and stream water as liquid samples and baby food as solid sample in order to determine the levels of Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions.